"This would be a substantial multi-million pound fund run by a professional fund manager, with the Welsh Assembly Government and a private sector funder having equal stakes, " he said.

BBC: Major development loan fund plans

As a professional politician educated in Cuba, she has served as head of the National Assembly and as Housing Administrator in the current government of Martin Torrijos, the moderate son of the late dictator Omar Torrijos.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Victory for Chavez in Panama?

Yet working conditions in services are often pleasanter and safer than on an assembly line, and average wages in the fastest-growing sectors, such as finance, professional and business services, education and health, are higher than in manufacturing.

ECONOMIST: Economics